'No Arrest Should Be Made In Routine Manner On Mere Allegation': Bombay HC While Quashing Journalist's Arrest

The Bombay High Court has said that no arrest should be made in a routine manner on mere allegation of offence and it would be prudent for the police to first check the genuineness of the same. The court has quashed the arrest of a Thane-based journalist Abhijit Padale terming the same as illegal.

The court has also directed the Maharashtra government to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 Padale as his right to liberty was deprived as he was arrested and kept in jail for three days. The amount shall be recovered from the police officer/s who are ultimately found responsible for Padale’s arrest.

The HC was hearing a petition by Padale stating he was not issued notice under section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The provision mandates serving a notice before arresting an accused in offences punishable with less than seven years of imprisonment.

The bench noted that the notice was prepared by the police but not served. It added that Padale’s arrest  was in “stark violation” of the mandates of the CrPC.

The existence of the power to arrest is one thing, the justification for the exercise of it is quite another, the bench said, adding police officers must be able to justify the reasons for the arrest. “No arrest can be made in a routine manner on a mere allegation of commission of an offence made against a person. It would be prudent and wise for a police officer that no arrest is made without a reasonable satisfaction reached after some investigation as to the genuineness of the allegation,” a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Shyam Chandak said on August 22.

The court has directed the police commissioner to appoint a DCP rank officer to inquire into Padale’s arrest and into the conduct of the police officers of Vakola police station.

One Mohammad Siddique had lodged an FIR against Palade on January 15, 2022, alleging extortion and criminal intimidation. He was arrested and produced before the magistrate court which noted that Palade was arrested without following the CrPC guidelines and remanded to judicial custody. He was granted bail on January 18.